{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Edward Cary Walthall | image = Edward Cary Walthall.jpg | jr/sr = United States Senator | state = Mississippi | term_start = March 9, 1885 | term_end = January 24, 1894 | predecessor = Lucius Q. C. Lamar | successor = Anselm J. McLaurin | term_start2 = March 4, 1895 | term_end2 = April 21, 1898 | predecessor2 = Anselm J. McLaurin | successor2 = William V. Sullivan | party = Democratic | birth_date = {{birth date|1831|4|4}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1898|4|21|1831|4|4}} | birth_place = Richmond, Virginia, U.S. | death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | resting_place = Hillcrest Cemetery<br />Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S. | allegiance = {{Flagicon|CSA}} Confederate | branch = {{army|CSA}} | service_years = 1861–1865 | rank = 35px Major General | commands = Walthall's Division—III Corps<br> Walthall's Brigade <br> 29th Mississippi Infantry | unit = 15th Mississippi Infantry | battles = {{tree list}} * American Civil War **Battle of Mill Springs ** Siege of Corinth ** Confederate Heartland Offensive ** Tullahoma Campaign ** Battle of Chickamauga ** Chattanooga campaign ** Battle of Resaca ** Battle of Franklin ** Battle of Nashville ** Carolinas campaign {{tree list/end}} | signature = Signature of Edward Cary Walthall (1831–1898).png }}
'''Edward Cary Walthall''' (April 4, 1831{{spaced ndash}}April 21, 1898) was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and a Reconstruction era United States senator from Mississippi.
==Early life== Edward C. Walthall was born in Richmond, Virginia, on April 4, 1831.<ref name="Eicher552">Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}. p. 552.</ref><ref name="Warner325">Warner, Ezra J. [https://books.google.com/books?id=t9YNGR_wdeoC&pg=PA325 ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders'']. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0823-9}}. p. 325.</ref> Walthall moved to Mississippi with his family in 1841.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref name="Warner325"/> He attended St. Thomas Hall in Holly Springs, studying law.<ref name="Warner325"/> He was admitted to the bar in 1852.<ref name="Warner325"/> Then, he practiced law in Coffeeville.<ref name="Eicher552"/> He was elected district attorney for the tenth judicial district of Mississippi in 1856 and reelected in 1859.<ref name="Warner325"/>
==American Civil War== During the Civil War, Walthall entered the Confederate Army as a lieutenant in the 15th Mississippi Infantry on April 27, 1861, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on July 21, 1861.<ref name="Eicher552"/> He fought with his regiment at the Battle of Mill Springs on January 19, 1862.<ref name="Sifakis689">Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0816010554}}. p. 689.</ref><ref name="Warner326">Warner, 1959, p. 326.</ref> Walthall was elected colonel of the 29th Mississippi Infantry Regiment on April 11, 1862, and fought at the Siege of Corinth and in the Confederate Heartland Offensive.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref name="Sifakis689"/><ref name="Warner326"/> Commanding one of the Army of Tennessee's brigades during November 1862 he was appointed brigadier general on December 13, 1862.<ref name="Eicher552"/>
Walthall led his brigade in the Tullahoma Campaign and fought at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19–20, 1863.<ref name="Sifakis689"/> Walthall distinguished himself at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, where he led his brigade over a ridge and held back the Federal troops until the Confederate army made its escape; however he was wounded in the foot and captured on November 25, 1863; but quickly was exchanged.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref name="Warner326"/> He was wounded again at the Battle of Resaca on May 15, 1864.<ref name="Eicher552"/>
Afterwards he advanced to division command in Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart's corps, receiving a temporary promotion to major general on June 6, 1864.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref name="Warner326"/>
At the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, Walthall was wounded (at least badly bruised) as he had two horses shot from under him, but he quickly returned to duty.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref name="Warner326"/>
Walthall covered the retreat of General Hood's army after the defeat at Nashville.<ref name="Sifakis689"/><ref name="Warner326"/> While Lieutenant General Alexander P. Stewart was in command of the remnant of the Army of Tennessee which was under the overall command of General Joseph E. Johnston during the Carolinas campaign, Walthall acted as III corps commander of the Army of Tennessee from March 16, 1865, until April 9, 1865, when he returned to division command in that corps.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref name="Sifakis689"/> He and his division surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston at Bennett Place on April 26, 1865. He was paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina, on May 1, 1865.<ref name="Eicher552"/>
==Post-war== thumb|right|Edward C. Walthall House in Grenada, Mississippi in 2019 thumb|upright|Walthall's grave in Holly Springs After the war, Walthall resumed the practice of law in Coffeeville. In 1871, he moved to Grenada, Mississippi, and continued practicing law until 1885.<ref name="CongBio">[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000111 Edward C. Walthall in ''The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''] Retrieved on 2015-06-20.</ref>
Walthall was appointed as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Lucius Q. C. Lamar.<ref name="CongBio"/> He was subsequently elected to fill the vacancy, and was reelected in 1889.<ref name="CongBio"/> He served from March 9, 1885, to January 24, 1894, when he resigned due to ill health.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref name="CongBio"/> While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs (Fifty-third Congress) and a member of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Fifty-fifth Congress).<ref name="CongBio"/>
Walthall was again elected for the term beginning March 4, 1895, and served from that date until his death in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 1898.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref name="CongBio"/> Funeral services were held in the Chamber of the United States Senate.<ref name="CongBio"/> He was buried at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Holly Springs, Mississippi.<ref name="Eicher552"/><ref>The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress identifies the cemetery as Holly Springs Cemetery.</ref>
==Legacy== Walthall County, Mississippi, is named after him.
==See also== {{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}} *List of American Civil War generals (Confederate) *List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==References== * Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}. * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-8160-1055-4}}. * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0823-9}}. {{CongBio|W000111}} Retrieved on 2015-06-20
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Edward C. Walthall}} *[http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00462/ The E. C. Walthall Collection (MUM00462)] can be found at the University of Mississippi, Archive and Special Collections.
{{S-start}} {{S-par|us-sen}} {{U.S. Senator box |state=Mississippi |class=2 |before=Lucius Q. C. Lamar |after=Anselm J. McLaurin |alongside=James Z. George |years=1885–1894}} {{U.S. Senator box |state=Mississippi |class=2 |before=Anselm J. McLaurin |after=William V. Sullivan |alongside=James Z. George, Hernando D. Money |years=1895–1898}} {{S-end}}
{{USSenMS}} {{SenArmedServiceCommitteeChairs}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walthall, Edward C.}} Category:1831 births Category:1898 deaths Category:People from Grenada, Mississippi Category:People from Holly Springs, Mississippi Category:Politicians from Richmond, Virginia Category:Confederate States Army major generals Category:People of Mississippi in the American Civil War Category:Mississippi Democrats Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Mississippi Category:People from Coffeeville, Mississippi Category:Burials at Hillcrest Cemetery Category:Military personnel from Richmond, Virginia Category:Phi Delta Theta members Category:19th-century United States senators Category:United States senators who owned slaves